Sermon On the Net

MY GOD, MY GOD

 

Matthew 27: Early in the morning all the chief priests and elders gathered together and decided to hand Jesus over to Pilate for Him to be put to death by crucifixion. In the meantime Judas began to realize he committed a grave error and wanted to return the blood money, but the chief priests wouldn’t take it back. He threw the money into the treasury and the priests decided they would buy a piece of property to be used for Judas’ burial and called it, ‘The Field of Blood,’ as prophesied by Jeremiah; verse 9: “Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled.” In the meantime Judas committed suicide by hanging himself.

 

Pilate asked Jesus if He were the king of the Jews and He replied in the affirmative; verse 11: “…Yes, it is as you say.” Pilate was amazed at Jesus’ refusal to answer any of the charges levied against Him as he continued to question Him. It was the custom in those days for the governor to release a prisoner during the feast. He asked the crowd whom he should release and their reply was Barabbas who was a notorious prisoner. He asked the crowd what he should do with Jesus and they cried out; verse 22-23: “…Crucify him. Crucify him.” Pilate was becoming very nervous because of his wife’s dream and took a bowl of water and washed his hands. He told the crowd that he was innocent of this matter and they replied in verse 25: ‘Let His blood be on us and on our children.’ The soldiers then took Jesus into the Praetorium and began to mock Him and treated Him badly. After a period of insulting and torturing Him they led Him to a place called Golgotha to be crucified. They hung Him on the cross with the inscription, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’ As He hung on the cross people were insulting and cursing Him.

 

“From the sixth hour to the ninth hour, while He hung on the cross, darkness came over all the land.” Jesus cried out asking His Father why He had forsaken Him. See verses 45-46. And again He cried out and gave up His spirit and the earth shook, the veil in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom, and many holy people who had died arose from the tombs and they appeared too many in the city after Jesus’ resurrection. The Centurion who had been standing at the cross exclaimed that Jesus must have been the Son of God, after he witnessed the events.

 

At this time Joseph, from Arimathea, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body and he placed Him in a tomb that he had purchased for himself. He rolled a big stone in front of the tomb and went away. Later the Jews became concerned that the Disciples might take Jesus’ body from the tomb, because they remembered what He said about rising from the dead on the third day. They went to Pilate with this concern and he agreed to have the soldiers secure the tomb as best they could and then stand guard all night.

 

What a chapter this is. Can you imagine that they crucified Jesus? I can’t. When Jesus said their hearts were hardened He really meant stone cold, without emotion or compassion. Wow! But because of His unselfishness we are forgiven, IF, we believe. This is unconditional love and difficult to imagine.

 

Please note that when the veil was torn, this signified that anyone is now able to have direct access to God through Jesus. We no longer need any intermediary, no religion, no organization, nothing except faith, and a belief that He died for our sins and if we accept this fact we are saved. And we can rely on His promise that we will never lose our salvation. My friends, if you haven’t made the decision for Jesus yet, now would be a good time. Simply ask Him to come into your heart and confess that you are a sinner and that you believe in what He died for and you will be saved. I pray you will take a moment now.

 

 

 

Sermon On the Net

THE BETRAYAL

 

 

Matthew 26: We begin this chapter with Jesus’ announcement of His crucifixion. Verse 2: As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priest and elders began to discuss ways to kill Him, after the feast, in fear that the crowd would riot.

 

In Bethany while talking with the disciples a woman poured a bottle of perfume on Jesus signifying preparation for His burial. The disciples became concerned with this because they thought it to be a waste of money. Jesus knew what they were thinking and He praised the woman for her act and He said that what she was doing would be told in memory of her.

 

Judas went to the chief priest to ask them how much they would give for his betrayal of Jesus and they said they would give him 30 pieces of silver.

 

At this point preparation was to be made for the last supper. Jesus told them to go into town to a certain house and tell the owner that they would like to have a place for the supper. At the supper table Jesus told them of His betrayal. They all queried Him and Jesus told Judas that he was the one; verse 25 “… Yes, it is you.” He said that this act was a prophecy and it had to be fulfilled. While they were at the table Jesus broke the bread, took the cup, and told them to eat and drink and this was to be done always in remembrance of Him.

 

Jesus then predicted Peter’s denial which he vehemently denied would happen; verse 34 Jesus tells peter: “I tell you the truth, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Then Jesus went to the garden in Gethsemane to pray. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and told them to sit and wait while He prayed. His prayer was one of anguish asking the Father to spare Him but then admitted that this was necessary as was prophesied; verse 39: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will, but as you will.” While He was speaking, Judas came with the crowd to arrest Him. Judas had told the chief priest in advance that the sign he would give to identify Jesus would be the person he kisses. This occurred and they arrested Him. Jesus asked them why they didn’t bother Him when He was teaching in the Temple, but before they could answer He said that what was happening was necessary so that what the prophets said would be fulfilled.

 

The chief priest asked Jesus if He were the Christ and Jesus’ reply in verse 64 was: “Yes, it is as you say. Then He told them the day would come when they would see Him on the right hand side of the Mighty One. They accused Him of blasphemy and said they didn’t need any more witnesses and they proceeded to spit on Him, slap Him, hit Him, etc.

 

Peter who had been nearby was approached by some in the crowd who accused him of being with Jesus. This occurred three times and as Jesus had predicted earlier, a rooster crowed three times. Peter wept bitterly.

 

The events in this chapter amaze me every time I read about the crucifixion. Here we have people with total disregard for a man who did nothing but good. Even though they wouldn’t accept Him as the Christ they should have had some admiration and respect for His actions and words. Judas’ betrayal is a despicable act and tells us something about human nature. Peter’s denial is so difficult for me to believe. All this plus more and yet Jesus loved us enough to die on the cross. This is what is called Agape love, a love without expectation of return, a love that is unconditional. This is the love that Jesus wants us to demonstrate when He says to love your neighbor as yourself. I know that no matter how hard I try, the world and everything in it cannot give me the peace of mind I have  believing what Jesus did for me on the cross. If you don’t have this peace now, please pray for Jesus to come into your heart and be born again into the family of God.

 

While reviewing and editing this chapter I couldn’t help but pause for a moment to meditate on Jesus’ appeal to His Father about the cup He was about to drink.   A sudden rush of emotion overcame me to think the Son of Man had to suffer for a world, that for most part, denied His existence. His appeal to his Father was so human.

 

 

Sermon On the Net

BE READY

 

Matthew 25: The parable of the ten virgins is a good lesson in preparedness. Will you be prepared? Verses 11-13: “Later the others also came. (Because they weren’t prepared they had to buy some oil for their lamps resulting in the door being shut) Sir! Sir! They said, Open the door for us. But he replied, I tell you the truth, I don’t know you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” The parable of the talents is also a very good lesson for us. Being saved does not mean that we should rest on our laurels, we have been given a beautiful and everlasting gift and Jesus wants us to share it. The parable is actually dealing with the opportunity that people have and if they do nothing about it (asking Jesus to be their Savior) they will find themselves to be lost separated from Him forever..

 

The parable of the sheep and the goats depicts the future in the end times when it will be decided who will enter the Kingdom. In verse 33 Jesus says: “He will put the sheep (the saved) on his right and the goats (the unsaved) on his left.” Those who have accepted Jesus will certainly enter and those who did not will be lost forever. It is also a very revealing parable in that it teaches what Jesus has been demonstrating and preaching during His time on earth. Love is the ingredient we all need to show the world. Loving others like Jesus loves us is very pleasing to the Father.

 

Jesus says in verse 41: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did do for the least of these brothers of mine you did for me. Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me , you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”   

 

My friends, if you are not ready for the appearance of the Lord or if you leave this earth prematurely, I pray that you will be prepared. Simply tell Him that you recognize that you are a sinner and lost and that you accept His gift of salvation and ask Him to come into your heart. Then you will be ready for eternal bliss with Him.

 

 

Sermon On the Net

UNKNOWN

 

Matthew 24: The disciples asked Jesus to take notice of the buildings and Jesus replied in verse 2: “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.” In private they asked Him when this would happen and when would the end times come about. He said it was not for them to know and the only one who would know is the Father. He also told them to be on the lookout for impersonators of himself. He went on to describe the destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in 70 A.D. and talked about the end times. He said this generation (genea which also means race or family), referring to the Jews, would not pass (become extinct) until the end of times.

 

He prophesied their future of torture and persecution, resulting in death, because of Him.  He described in detail things that would happen in the end times before He returns to redeem His church and, once again, deal with the Jewish nation. The Jewish nation will be put on ‘hold’, if you will, until after His crucifixion.

 

Jesus said there will be signs and for the people to be ready at all times; He says in verse 35: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

 

There you have it, we are to be ready, for at any moment He could return. Many scholars, today, believe that we are living in the end times and I find it difficult not to agree with them. No matter we should live knowing that He is definitely coming to redeem His church. Will you be ready? The first step, of course, is to make sure that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. If not, please take a moment, if you will, and pray and ask Him to come into your life. This is a faith step, I know, but your life will change and you will have all the proof you need as time goes by. Personally I can tell you that my own faith in Jesus becomes stronger and stronger each day. I have all the proof I will ever need. Won’t you give yourself a chance? I pray every day that anyone receiving and reading this letter will become a true child of God. John 3:16 tells us that the Father ‘gave us His only begotten Son so that anyone who believes in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life.’

 

A note worthy of mention is what Jesus about,; ‘a generation will not pass until all these things occur.’ A generation in the Bible is approximately 70 years. One of the ‘things’ Jesus was discussing that had to happen, was for Israel to become a nation once again. This event occurred in 1948 and if we are to follow that sign it would appear we are definitely in the end times right now; of course no one knows. One thing is certain though; only those who have given their live to Jesus will be saved.

 

I would encourage each of you to read Matthew 24 to hear Jesus describe the end times.